Fort Worth Police Department General Orders

506.03 OFFICER-WORN DIGITAL RECORDING DEVICES (Revised 4/01/16)

A. The guidelines in this order apply only to officer-worn digital recording devices that attach
directly to the officers uniform or person. These guidelines do not apply to the use of the incar fixed audio/video recording systems mounted in Fort Worth Police Department vehicles.
B. All digital multimedia evidence (DME) captured during the scope of an officers duties is
property of the Fort Worth Police Department and subject to City, State, and police
department policies regarding the viewing, release, retention and destruction of the same.
Officers shall not convert DME for personal use, nor shall officers access, copy, edit or
release recordings, or depictions from recordings, without proper authority and/or written
approval.
C. Officers are prohibited from utilizing personally-owned digital recording devices while onduty or while engaged in approved off-duty law enforcement and security-related (LE/SR)
employment; however, officers are encouraged to utilize a city-owned officer-worn digital
recording device pursuant to this General Order and applicable statutory laws cited herein.
D. All uniformed officers, regardless of rank, shall be issued an officer-worn digital recording
device. Officers are required to use the device as outlined in this order as well as following
the corresponding standard operating procedures.
1. The officer-worn digital recording device benefits the officer by providing a
supplemental asset when police and/or civilian actions during an incident necessitate
review. With this benefit in mind, use of an officer-worn digital recording device
and its recording shall not be used to initiate arbitrary and/or punitive mechanisms in
order to initiate discipline against any police department personnel.
403

Fort Worth Police Department General Orders

E. Officers deploying an officer-worn digital recording device shall attend departmentapproved training on the device, review the standard operating procedures governing its use
and demonstrate a working knowledge of the device prior to employing it in field
operations.
F. Supervisors of officers deploying an officer-worn digital recording device shall attend
department-approved training regarding the device as well as the procedures for storing and
retention of the DME.
G. Officers shall inspect the officer-worn digital recording device prior to each shift to confirm
the device is operational and has sufficient battery life. Any problems with the officer-worn
digital recording device shall be reported to the officers supervisor immediately and the
supervising officer shall contact the Body Camera Program Coordinator to secure a repair or
replacement.
H. In the event that an officer-worn digital recording device is lost, upon discovery the officer
shall immediately notify their supervisor. The supervisor shall ensure the officer completes
an Equipment Replacement Request and submit/route the approved request through the
chain of command to the Body Camera Program Coordinator for appropriate action.
I. Officers may be subject to disciplinary action for reporting to duty without their assigned
officer-worn digital recording device and/or for the intentional, negligent loss of, or damage
to, a device.
J. Officers assigned an officer-worn digital recording device are encouraged to use the device
at approved LE/SR employment but only for off-duty law enforcement action. If used for
this purpose, the officer shall download all DME during their next regularly assigned onduty shift.
K. At the start of each shift, officers utilizing an officer-worn digital recording device shall
indicate this by selecting On-Officer Camera from the selection box on the Visinet Mobile
login screen.
L. The officer-worn digital recording device should be activated under the following
circumstances:
1. Collection of evidence that can be used in the prosecution of criminal offenses;
2. Recording contacts with the public in connection with investigations where law
enforcement action will potentially be taken;
3. Pursuits by vehicle and on foot;
4. Execution of consent searches;
5. Investigating calls involving mentally-distressed persons; and
6. Documentation of accident or crime scenes, etc.
M. Officers who conduct or supervise planned tactical entry operations shall ensure that at least
one (1) officer-worn digital recording device is worn and activated during its execution. This
also applies to Fort Worth officers who are members of other task forces. This mandate
applies in both dynamic and deliberate operations.
1. Dynamic entry: rapid entry and movement through a target location with the intent of
quickly overwhelming any potential threats and/or preventing the destruction of
contraband.
2. Deliberate entry (Slow Clear): the entry into and methodical movement through a
target location with the intent of identifying and securing potential threats.
N. Officers may deactivate the officer-worn digital recording device when the purpose for
activation is no longer present. Officers shall verbally state why they are choosing to
404

Fort Worth Police Department General Orders

deactivate the officer-worn digital recording device prior to doing so. Temporary
deactivation may also occur when:
1. Exchanging NCIC/TCIC, DPS or other law enforcement sensitive data either in person
or via the police radio or MDC;
2. Facilitating discussion of training issues or operation strategies;
3. Sharing information such as telephone numbers or personal information with another
officer;
4. Conducting conversations containing privileged information (i.e. communication with
Clergy and Police Alliance/Ministers Against Crime, Police Peer Counselors,
Attorneys, Physicians, etc.); and
5. Authorized by a supervisor or commander who determines that continued recording of
an incident is not required to meet the objective of the Officer-Worn Digital Recording
Device SOP that corresponds with this General Order. The authorizing supervisor or
commander should be identified in the appropriate report narrative.
6. In accordance with Texas Occupations Code 1701, when an officer makes the decision
to discontinue recording or chooses not to record the incident at all, the officer must
note in the CAD call notes the reason the officer chose not to capture the recording.
Justifications based on safety issues, unreasonableness, or impracticality must be based
on whether a reasonable officer in the same situation would have made the same
decision.
O. Officers shall not:
1. Release video captured from an officer-worn digital recording device without express
permission from the Fort Worth Police Department. An exception shall be for
legitimate court-related evidentiary purposes. Any release without departmental
permission (see General Order 429.01 for chain of command accountability) is a
violation of state law and may be punishable as a Class A Misdemeanor. (See Texas
Occupations Code 1701.659).
2. Delete, cause to be deleted, or release, any recording from an officer-worn digital
recording device that documents an incident that involves the use of deadly force by a
peace officer or that is otherwise related to an administrative or criminal investigation
of an officer until all criminal matters have been finally adjudicated and all related
administrative investigations have concluded. (See Texas Occupations Code 1701.660).
3. Intentionally create digital recordings of other employees in areas where a reasonable
expectation of privacy exists such as locker rooms, restrooms, etc.
4. Knowingly record undercover officers or confidential informants.
5. Use a police department-owned officer-worn digital recording device to record any type
of non-law enforcement-related personal activities.
6. Allow non-sworn personnel to view the DME without permission from the officers
immediate supervisor. Governmental employees who are directly involved in the
investigation and/or prosecution of a criminal case related to the DME or who work in
Internal Affairs are exempt from this provision.
7. Upload or convert digital recordings for use on any type of social media.
8. Create recordings in patient care areas of medical facilities unless the recording is for
official police business such as a criminal investigation, dying declaration, Horizontal
Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) on injured drivers, or a specific call for police service.
9. Intentionally record juveniles unless evidentiary in nature or as authorized by the
Family Code.
405

Fort Worth Police Department General Orders

P.

Q.

R.

S.
T.

U.

V.

10. Wear an officer-worn digital recording device into a testing area, courtroom, arbitration
hearing, or disciplinary meeting with the officers chain of command.
a. Officers do not have to remove their officer-worn digital recording device when in
departmental and/or public meetings or when in classrooms unless testing will be
included; however, the device shall be deactivated unless the instructor or
facilitator has authorized the device to be activated during the meeting or class.
When creating intentional recordings involving juveniles, the investigator shall download
the video to the appropriate media partition (i.e., juveniles in the juvenile folder, adults in
the general folder) as soon as possible, and request destruction of the DME as provided for
in this General Order and/or corresponding standard operating procedures.
When an incident has been recorded and an offense/incident report is generated, the officer
shall note in the first sentence of the report narrative that the incident or a portion of the
incident was captured by an officer-worn digital recording device. If the officer recording
the DME is not the reporting officer, the officer recording the DME shall immediately notify
the report writing officer of the existence of a DME, and if necessary supplement the report
to note this.
1. If the citizen contact resulted in the issuance of a Class C misdemeanor citation, the
officer shall note on the back of the citation that DME was captured and placed on
Evidence.com.
The officer shall label the recording with any applicable report number. In addition, the
officer shall choose a category for the recording when appropriate. The two categories are
Criminal (criminal offense related) or Administrative (use of force, pursuits, officer involved
traffic accidents, etc.) if unrelated to a criminal event. These tasks can be accomplished via a
mobile device or by accessing Evidence.com directly.
Note: In the event of a non-happening, the officer will simply not categorize a recording.
Officers may use media captured via the officer-worn digital recording device to assist with
the investigation and to promote accuracy in the completion of reports.
Officers may review media captured from an officer-worn digital recording device before
making any statements.
1. Officers involved in a Critical Police Incident (CPI) may review media captured from
their officer-worn digital recording device prior to making a statement and should be
permitted to review the media with a peer representative or another officer who was
not involved in the incident.
By the end of each duty day, if the officers officer-worn digital recording device is storing
DME, the device shall be placed in an appropriate docking station and should not be
removed until the download of data is complete. If the DME is recorded during off-duty
LE/SR employment, the officer shall place the device in the docking station by the end of
the officers next scheduled on-duty shift.
All DME captured by officer-worn digital recording devices shall be uploaded to
Evidence.com for storage.
1. DME on Evidence.com that was categorized as Criminal or Administrative will be kept
for a minimum of two (2) years. Uncategorized DME will be destroyed after 180 days.
In addition, a category entitled Until Manually Deleted will be utilized in those
instances dictated by the City Attorneys office or the Risk Management office.
2. Should DME be required for criminal cases or other litigation that requires the evidence
to be retained for longer than two (2) years, it shall be the responsibility of the
406

Fort Worth Police Department General Orders

investigator to transfer the DME to the appropriate media for storage with the case
evidence.
3. If a use of force, vehicle pursuit or any other administrative inquiry-based personnel
action related to a misconduct case is captured on an officer-worn digital recording
device, the DME(s) from the incident shall be uploaded to the administrative report by a
supervisor to facilitate seamless administrative review.
4. Officers are encouraged and supported by the Chain of Command to flag the DME
when the officer feels that he/she may face an unsubstantiated complaint or accusation
as a result of a DME captured encounter.
a. If an accusation filed against an officer is unfounded, meaning an investigation
determined the accusation is false or fabricated, the Special Investigations Section
shall conduct the investigation. Furthermore, on a case-by-case basis, and
depending on factors such as, but not limited to, the severity of the alleged
violation and/or input from the officer, charges may be filed against any individual
who made the false or fabricated accusation.
5. Monthly random audits of DME shall be completed by reviewing supervisors outside of
the chain of command of the officer(s) wearing the officer-worn digital recording
device (i.e., North Command supervisors will audit South Command officers, and viceversa, etc.).
a. The Divisional Commanding Officer (Captain) shall ensure that supervisors
conducting random/monthly audits of DME submit their findings by the 4th day of
every month in a comprehensive monthly report to the Body Camera Program
Coordinator and applicable Deputy Chief.
b. Additionally, supervisors are required to articulate the reason for their review of
DME (i.e., monthly audit, misconduct, random audit, etc.). In the event a monthly
or random audit reveals minor infractions or inappropriate activities, the
Divisional Captain shall address the infraction in the appropriate corrective manner
immediately, and retain documentation of the results (i.e., retraining, verbal
warning, etc.).
W. It is permissible to retain recordings for display during training exercises upon final
adjudication of all associated criminal cases.
X. All stored DME is subject to release in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act,
and/or Texas Occupations Code 1701.

407